2072 



TROPICAL DERMATOMYCOSES 



anointing the body with cocoanut oil or other oil will prevent 

 infection ; there may be some truth in the belief, but such a measure 

 cannot be carried out in Europeans. Any itchy, scaly spot in the 

 slightest way suspicious of incipient tinea imbricata should be. 

 immediately treated with lin. iodi, chrysarobin ointment, or resorcin 

 dissolved in tr. benzoini. While the treatment of tinea imbricata 

 in an advanced stage is extremely difficult, it is easy to stop the 

 initial patches by these means. 



TINEA INTERSECTA {vide Plate XL). 



This dermatomycosis and its fungus were first described by Cas- 

 tellani in 1907. It occurs in Ceylon and Southern India. 



etiology. — If a por- 

 tion of one of the brown 

 patches or a scale be 

 removed and treated 

 with liquor potassae, 

 the fungus is easily 

 detected. The fungus 

 {Endodermophyton cas- 

 tellanii Perry, 1907) 

 grows between the 

 superficial and the 

 deep strata of the epi- 

 dermis. It is present 

 on the inner surface 

 of the scales, but not 

 on the external surface. 

 A very remarkable 

 fact is the extreme 

 rarity of free spores; 

 in fact, in several cases 

 Fig. 820.— Fungus of Tinea Intersecta. ^ne does not succeed 

 (From a scale in liq. potassae.) in finding spores. The 



mycelium is fairly 

 abundant, though far from being so abundant as in tinea imbricata. 

 It is composed of long, straight articulated threads, which are 

 sometimes dichotomous, the breadth being between 3 and 3J fi. 

 Each segment presents in fresh preparation two retractile bodies, 

 one at each extremity. No aspergillar fructifications nor clusters 

 of spores are seen. Attempts at growing the fungus have succeeded 

 only in one case, the growth being somewhat similar to that of Endo- 

 dermophyton indicum CasteUani (p. 1020). 



Symptomatology. — ^The eruption begins with small oval or 

 roundish, very slightly elevated itching patches, generally situated 

 on the arms, legs, chest, and back. The margins of these dark 

 spots are at first slightly elevated, and dotted often with minute 

 dark papules. The patches are dark brown in colour, much darker 



